Russian Despatch: Looking for a New Orban in the Balkans

April has brought a major setback for Russia’s influence in Europe. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, the EU’s most pro-Russian leader, was voted out after sixteen consecutive years in government. A fervent opponent of assistance to Ukraine and no less fervent supporter of energy imports from Russia, Orban had made it his trademark to veto EU initiatives that irk Moscow.

The Kremlin is trying to put a brave face on the changing of the guard in Budapest, stressing that Russia’s cooperation with Hungary was not about personalities, but the two countries’ national interests. That Orban was not a Russian ally, but merely a pragmatic leader serving his country, which has, after all, been formally declared “unfriendly” by Moscow for joining anti-Russian sanctions.

The narrative goes that if cooperation was possible under such conditions, there are grounds to expect that the new government of Peter Magyar will also take a pragmatic stance as regards Russia.